The majority of goods moved through commerce today are transported by motor freight. One means of motor freight is the flatbed trailer. Once the goods are loaded onto the flatbed trailer, the goods must be secured from shifting to avoid damage to the goods, trailer, other vehicles and passing motorists.
The typical method employed on flatbed trailers to secure freight is the webbing winch such as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,002. The typical webbing winch uses a dacron web to strap cargo down against the deck of the flatbed trailer. The web is first placed over the cargo on the trailer. Any slackness in the web is tightened by incrementally rotating the winch so that the web is taken up on the winch drum. To gain the leverage needed to achieve the required tension to secure the freight, a winch bar is inserted into the winch to gain the leverage needed to tension the web. A typical winch bar is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,565. A ratchet device in the winch prevents the winch from unwinding under the load.
Once the freight is removed from the trailer, the webbing must be reeled back onto the winch drum for safe storage. Since the winch bar has a limited range of travel, using the winch bar to reel up the slack webbing is very time consuming. Most flatbed trailer operators prefer to perform this task by rotating the winch drum by hand.
Hand winding creates a number of inconveniences for the trailer operator. First is that the winch is typically full of road dirt and grime which is transferred to the operators gloves, hands and clothing during the winding operation. Secondly, although hand winding is faster than using the winch bar, it is still a time consuming process, especially since multiple winches are used on a flatbed trailer when securing a load. Additionally, the friction within the winch and the drag of the webbing makes it difficult to wind the webbing onto the winch drum by hand. Finally, given the location of the winch on the underside of the trailer bed, there are many obstructions which can cause injury to the operator's hand when winding the winch by hand.
The present invention addresses and resolves these drawbacks associated with winch bar and hand winding webbing onto the winch. The present invention allows the operator to wind the webbing in a fraction of the time required by either method while providing the torque necessary to overcome any friction and other winding resistance while providing enough tension to secure the webbing while not in use.